Track-drill.



TRACK' DRI-LL.

(Application mea Nov. 1, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Sh-eet l (N0 Model.)

' W /VESSES K No. 668,598.'

w. BETHEL.

'TRACK DRILL.

` Patented Feb. I9, |90I.

` (Apylicntion led Nov. 1, 1900.5

(nu man.)

nn. un-1f Mll WHA/155555.

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

I By

zfarney 'me noms vmhs co.. Fuommjum wnsmmsl n, n. c.

UNTTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON BETHEL, OF COLUMBUS, OHVIQO, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO CHARLES BALZER AND CHARLES YAEKLE, OF SAME PLACE.

TRACK-DRILL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N o. 668,598, dated February 19, 1901.

Application filed November 1, 1900. Serial No. 35,130. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, WILSON BETHEL, a ciri- Zen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Drills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to improvements in portable machines for drilling holes in the webs of the rails of railroad-tracks; and it consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement, as will be hereinafter first fully described and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which fully illustrate myinvention, Figure 1 is a perspective view ot' the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lower portion of the same, showing the means for holding the machine in position on a track. Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal section through the drillstock, and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the mechanism for operating the feeding-shaft.

-The frame 1 of the machine maybe of any desired form, but is preferably composed of two inverted- U -shaped standards 2, connected by suitable braces, as shown. 'lhe lower ends of the standards are connected by snpporting plates or feet 3, from which project lateral lugs 4, and through these lugs I insert adjustable feet or thumb-screws 5 or other similar devices adapted to bear upon the railroad-ties or a plate set between the rails, and thereby serve to hold the machine steady while it is in use. Pivotally secured to the side of one of the standards and extending beyond the other standard is a rail or bar o', having its ends bent vertically upward and then outward, as at 7, to t over the trackrails. By driving Wedges 8 through the extremities of the bars 6 (there being one on each side of the machine) close against the outer sides of the rails the machineis clamped firmly in operative position on the track. The bars being pivotally secured to the frame, they can be swung upward at one end after the wedges at that end have been loosened,v

thus facilitating the removal of the machine upon the approach of a train.

On the upper ends or shoulders of the standgrooved bearings 16.

ards I mount the driving-shaft 9, having a balance-wheel l() at one end and a sprocketwheel 1l at the other end. The balancewheel and the sprocket-wheel are both provided with crank-handles, the handle 12 of the sprocket-wheel being extended beyond the same and bent slightly thereover, for a purpose presently set forth. The branches of the standards are connected at an intermediate point of their height by braces 13, and secured on and extending between said braces is a beam 14, from which depends a two-armed bracket or hanger 15, provided at its ends with'internally-threaded or spirally- Mounted in these bearings 16 is a hollow externally threaded or grooved feeding-shaft 17, having a sprocketlwheel 18 keyed to its rear end. The drillstock 19 extends loosely through the hollow feeding-shaft and is provided with a chuck or bit-holder at each end. The chuck orbitholder at the front end of the drill-stock forms an annular shoulder which bears against the front end of the feeding-shaft. A sprocket-wheel 20 is secured on the drillstock nearits rearend in juxtaposition to the sprocket-wheel 18 on the end of the feedingshaft, a washer 2l beingslipped on the stock between the two sprocket-wheels to receive the Wear. The drill-stock is thus supported bythe feeding-shaft, and its longitudinal position is determined by the position of the said` shaft, as the shaft bears at one end against an annular shoulder on the stock and at its other end against a sprocket-wheel secured thereon, and consequently when the shaft is rotated and thereby moved through its threaded or grooved bearings the drillstock is necessarily shifted longitudinally. Achain 22 passes around the sprocket-wheel 20 on the drill-stock and the sprocket-wheel 11 on the driving-shaft, whereby the motion of the driving-shaft is transmitted direct-ly to the drill-stock.

Upon the shoulders or upper ends of the standards I secure the brackets 23, connected by a brace 24, the rear end -of the brace being extended and forming a journal for a sprocket-wheel 25 and a double ratchet-wheel 26, connected to said sprocket-wheel, so that the two move in unison. The sprocket-wheel 25is connected with the sprocket-wheel 18 by a chain 27, as shown.

Pvotally mounted on the frame above the ratchet-wheel are pawls 28, which extend over the ratchet-wheel and are adapted to engage the notches of the same. The points of these pawls project into the path of the crank-handle l2, and their engaging lips or portions 29 are turned in reverse directions, it being readily understood that these pawls feed the ratchet-wheels in opposite directions and that only one of them is in operation at a time. Each pawl is held normally in position to engage the ratchet-wheel by a leafspring 30, secured to the frame of the machine and connected to the outer side of the pawl bya pin or bolt projecting from the pawl and passing through a longitudinal slot 3l in the spring. When the pawl is not in ruse, it is held out of engagement with the ratchetwheel by a hook 32, hung loosely on the brace 24 and adapted to be engaged over the inner end of the pawl. The pawls are pivoted so as to swing normally in a horizontal plane; but they are fitted loosely on their pivots, so that there is suilicient lost motion to permit them to be pressed down and engaged by the hook 32. The rear end of the drill-stock may be passed through a beam or brace 33 in order to hold the drill steady.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus being thus made known, the operation will be readily understood. The machine is placed in position on the track and fastened by means of wedges inserted through the ends of the holding-bars, as described. One of the springpawls is then engaged by the hook so as to be held out of engagement with the ratchetwheel, after which the driving-shaft is manually rotated, as will be readily understood. As the driving-shaft rotates the crank-handle at the rear end thereof on the sprocket-wheel is moved around and its inwardly-bent portion strikes the projecting end of the free pawl and forces the said pawl against and into engagement Vwith one of the notches in the ratchet-wheel, and thereby rotates the ratchet-wheel until the pawl, swinging on its pivot, assumes such an angle that the crankhandle slips past and off its end. The spring then at once returns the pawl to its initial position. The motion of the driving-shaft and of the sprocket-wheel attached to the ratchetwheel is transmitted to the drill-stock and the feeding-shaft, respectively, through the chains, as before described. It will thus be seen that the drill-stock is continuously rotated, so that the bit bores a hole in the web ofthe rail. During each rotation of the driving-shaft a partial rotation is imparted to the feeding-shaft, which is caused to turn in its threaded or grooved bearings, and consequently advance the drill-stock to the work.

Should the feeding-shaft tend to advance faster than the bit can cut, the pawl may be held out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel during one or more revolutions of the drivingshaft. When it is desired to withdraw the bit, the pawls are both held out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel, and the said wheel is then manually rotated in the reverse direction, thereby causing the feeding-shaft to travel backward and withdraw the drillstock. If it be desired to drill a hole in the opposite rail, it can be done without disturbing the position of the machine, as it is necessary only to shift the bit from one end of the drill-stock to the other end and rotate the driving-shaft backward after regulating the pawls, so that the one formerly in use will be held idle and the pawl formerly idle will operate.

My machine is very simple, and its advantages are thought to need no specific mention.

Having thus described rnyinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a track-drill, the combination with the frame having lateral lugs, of adj ustable feet inserted through said lugs, holding-bars pivoted near one end on the side of the frame above said lugs and having both ends projected beyond the sides of the trame and bent upward and outward to pass over the trackrails, and wedges inserted through the ends of the holding-bars to bear against the trackrails.

2. The combination of the frame, the driving-shaft having a sprocket-wheel at its end, a crank-handle on said wheel projecting beyond the same and extending slightly inward thereover, a ratchet-wheel supported on the frame above the driving-shaft, and a pawl secured on the frame in position to engage the said ratchet-wheel and having its end I IIO tion to engage the said ratchet-wheel and having its outer end projecting into the path of the inwardly-bent portion otl the crank-handle, and a spring secured on the frame and attached to the pawl.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

his WILSON BETHEL.

mark

Witnesses:

THOMAS H. HENNEssEY, FRED. B. RoNEY, Jr. 

